Put down roots – Meditate on God’s Word
...being rooted...
As has been the case throughout his letter, Paul once again uses passive verbs here. Notice that we have been rooted – we didn’t root ourselves. We have been grounded. We didn’t ground ourselves. Obviously only God can do that. It is God’s work in our lives that provides the means for us to be rooted and grounded. But I’m convinced that Paul would agree that doesn’t mean that we have no role in the process. What we do in our lives can either facilitate or inhibit God’s work of rooting and grounding us in Christ’s love.
When Paul writes of being rooted in Christ’s love, I can’t help but think that he might be reflecting on the picture given by the Psalmist in the very first Psalm:
“Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.” Psalm 1:1-3 (NIV)
The Psalmist gives us a beautiful picture here of the righteous man who is like a tree planted by streams of water, where the roots can go down deep and provide stability and allow that man to produce fruit in his life season after season. I think we’d all like to be like that man or woman. So how can we develop those deep roots?
The Psalmist indicates that the key to putting down deep roots is to meditate on God’s Word day and night. Unfortunately, because of some of the new age religions, we’ve developed somewhat of an aversion to meditation. I don’t know about you, but when I hear the word meditate, I think of someone sitting cross-legged on the floor, chanting some mantra. And frankly I don’t want any part of that, because even if I ever could get in that position in the first place, I’d probably never get up again. I'd be laying on the floor begging my wife to help me up. But meditation as the Psalmist presents is different.
The Hebrew word for meditation comes from a root word that means to speak or utter. Meditation, as used here, means to speak God’s Word to yourself and to speak to yourself about what it means and how to apply it on your life. That act of meditation takes place in the heart, or in the mind. And you’ll notice that the Psalmist wrote that the man who is blessed will delight in meditating on the Word of God day and night.
So if I want to put down deep roots of the love of Christ, the first place I have to start is to delight in His Word to the point that I constantly think about it and how it applies to my life.
Do you remember the first time you fell in love? I do, because I’m still in love with that very same person. And that love that I have for Amy means that I think about her often. When we’re apart, I’m already thinking about when I’ll get to see her again. And because I love her, I think about what I can do make sure that I meet her needs and how I can be the person that she can trust and respect. Although that certainly requires some effort on my part, it is also my delight.
When we fall in love with Jesus, we ought to have that same kind of attitude. We ought to delight in getting to know Him through his Word and thinking about how we can take and apply what we’re learning so that our lives can be pleasing to Him. I think that's all God is asking of us...you are loved!
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